


Last Day Of Summer

by AsilandWriting



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Goodbyes, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 21:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsilandWriting/pseuds/AsilandWriting
Summary: Summer is over, the children have to leave Camp Camp and none of them is happy about it.





	Last Day Of Summer

It finally arrived.

Last day of summer.

Max would leave Camp Camp(bell), all his trying and fighting to leave this nightmare paying off.

And he hated it.

One after the other the kids left the camp to go home, most of them having put on smiling faces, being brave and hoping with all their might that there would be a next year. Still, Max could see the waterworks start as soon as they went into their parent’s cars while all the others waved, screaming at the leaving children to stay safe. With every child that went, the hole in Max chest got bigger until only him, Neil and Nikki were left, looking at each other in silence. At least they would leave together with the bus, there was still some time, but it broke their hearts.

Max had gone for a walk, trying to memorize all the places he had went. He counted the trees, sat on the ground and smelled the grass, climbed a pine tree to look over the lilac lake. He sat in the Mess Hall trying to listen to Nikki's last hunt for rabbits to tell them goodbye and Neil's projects he had finished up and would take home. He occupied his mind with thoughts of school and the fact that he probably didn’t do his homework, with small songs he hummed and learned in this camp, with everything but the fact that he had to leave.

But then he could hear the bus honk and his heart dropped, the fork clattering to the ground as Neil picked it up with a small frown and Nikki giving him a worried glance. Max knew he must have looked pathetic, his eyes staring at nothing and his scowl turning into a grimace, but in that moment he felt like karma was slapping him in the face.

Then David decided to speak up, his cheerful voice breaking Max's train of thought.

“So! Last load is ready to go!” the camp counsellor told them with a smirk, ushering them, after they grabbed the bags, to the door, “We don't want to let the Quartermaster wait, right?”

Nikki just tried to smile back at him, her little bag on her shoulders suddenly getting heavier with ever step she took, as the little trolley clattered behind her. Neil on the other hand looked at the ground as he swallowed hard, his arms clasped together in a frantic manner, as his fingers switched from one place to another. Nikki blinked at him, as she laid a hand across his, while Max petted his back, Neil shakily sighing out.

“There,” David then announced, the bus ready and filled up, the group staring at the steps with uncertainty “That's it. You ready to go home?”

Max looked up at David and still, still the man was smiling as if nothing was happening, that grin plastered on his face. Nikki and Neil were blinking rapidly, as they both nodded, hesitantly but not wanting to let David's spirit fall, while Max just stared on.

“It had been fun!” Nikki then giggled watery, her eyes closed as if to keep the tears in, “Way better than the Flower Scouts!”

Neil nodded as well, his voice cracking in all kind of ways, as he tried to stay brave: “It had been a crazy summer, I'll never forget it.”

David smiled at that, as he nodded his head, before he looked up at the Quartermaster, who watched them intently, waiting. “So…” David then dragged out, his hand on his neck, “I would say goodbye then, yeah?”

The children swallowed hard as Nikki and Neil went up the bus steps, putting their bags on the seat, as Max watched them from the corners of his eyes, before he moved his head. He was still standing in front of the bus, hands balled in his pockets, before he looked at the ground. For a moment was silence the only thing filling the forest, until David coughed slightly.

“Um… Well. You're going home, that's what you wanted!” David tried to cheer the boy up, his arms stretching to the horizon, “You know you won right?”

Max winced harshly at that, Neil and Nikki back in the entrance and watching him with pity. All of them were at a loss and nobody really had the heart to move Max from his spot, who was standing there like a statue. His eyes were fixated on the ground, before he started to look up, his frown still in place like always before he suddenly blinked and tears gathered. Still, his face wouldn't crunch up, his eyes like stones as David tilted his head slightly.

“I won the fight, yeah”, mumbled Max then out, as he stared at David with such intensity that the camp counsellor almost stepped back, “But you clearly won the war.”

Nikki smiled at that, as Neil shook his head in amusement, but Max didn't even blink as he continued: “The moment I came here I tried to escape, tried to break you. I tried every, single, fucking thing, and you know it as well. And maybe now I'm going home and I have what I wanted but…” His voice started to wobble as his eyes softened, and he swallowed, before he breathed in shakily. “But after all that… I started to like doing it. It was fun trying to escape, it was fun playing pranks on you. It had been nice.”

He scowled again, before he started to clench his fists.

“And I started… started to care.”

David blinked first in utter confusion, before his shoulders lost their tenseness and a proud smile formed, as Nikki and Neil stepped out and stood behind the sweater boy, holding hands to support each other. They could only watch as Max's form shook, still trying to keep eye contact with his counsellor, hating the fact that he was losing the battle of keeping himself collected.

“I care about this dump camp now… I care and it's your fucking fault…” He chocked out, glaring, as the tears now started to cascade down hard, David at a loss of words, “You made me care, so you won.”

And before anybody could say anything Max rushed forwards, jumped up and knocked into David's chest, where he started to cling on him like a desperate save line. The camp counsellor tumbled slightly back, blinking harshly, before he lowered himself and went to his knees as Max gripped his shirt and pulled him down as well. Now they both were seated on the ground and David put his arms around the boy, as Max started to sob, open and loudly. For a moment David just sat there, slightly stunned, but then pushed him into his chest, his chin resting on the boys head as he closed his eyes, his frame now shaking as well. He would never had thought that Max would ever show himself to be this vulnerable and if it weren't for the fact that Max was crying his heart out, David would have done so as well. But he had to stay strong for the kids now as he looked up and smiled at the other two, which were standing forlorn there.

The smile he gave them was like an invitation and the two of them crowded the camp counsellor as well, as they clung to him and Max, the three children now crying in shaking voices. It felt like this had been the thing all of them needed and for a moment everything was fine, just for the moment everything was okay.

Then it had to end as David let them go, still on his knees as the children wiped their eyes and gasped. He knew it would be even harder now, so he just waved slightly, head tilted, as Neil was the first to move, swallowing hard and hands clenched, before Nikki followed him with red eyes and a small smile. Max still stood his ground, before he took small steps back, facing the ground before he too turned around, his back hunched over, as David started to stand up. The Quartermaster just nodded as the children seated themselves, looking over at David before he closed the doors.

The bus started up, the engine roaring and finally started to drive away, following the street as Nikki and Neil waved behind the windows as David did the same, Gwen in the distance with crossed arms and a sad frown. Nikki and Neil were screaming, which only came muffled to David's ears as the bus started to turn, the last time any of the kids would see the camp in a long time.

Max was sitting in his seat, silent tears trickling down his cheeks, as he grasped his jeans. He didn't mean to, he had tried to avoid it, but he looked up through the window and saw that stupid, stupid smile etched across David's face. He knew it was a real one, a face that was looking forward to a next year and he chocked up again, his chest tightening. Then he jumped to his feet, opening the window even though it was clearly forbidden and started to scream outside, his voice going raw as Nikki and Neil were leaning outside as well.

“I'LL COME BACK, YOU HEAR ME?!?” screamed Max at the top of his lungs, the birds flying from their trees, his voice shaking as the other two waved with all their might “I'LL COME BACK LIKE LAST YEAR, IDIOT! YOU'LL NEVER GET RID OF ME! AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE HELL TO PAY!”

David could only smile at that, as he waved harder, before the tears spilled and a sob broke through.

And then the bus vanished, David letting his arm fall beside him, as he sighed out, Gwen now standing behind him. She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile, David gratefully accepting it before they were looking at the horizon together. Then they both nodded at each other and left the street, knowing they had to start packing.

The summer was over, done and they had to return as well.

**Author's Note:**

> A little bit of my art to make it even sadder:  
> https://yes-asil.tumblr.com/image/150823943582


End file.
